October 1968 and Bob Gibson

Back in October 1968, I ran home with my little transistor radio hoping to catch Game 1 of the World Series on TV.  I knew that my mother would have the game on TV, so my objective was to get home.

I ran faster and faster when I heard that Gibson was pitching a shutout and about to set a post-season record for strikeouts.  Well, I did not make it home, but I did hear strikeout #17 on the radio and caught the post-game interview.

It was arguably the greatest pitching performance of the 20th century because he was facing a Detroit lineup that included Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, and Jim Northrup.  The 1968 A.L. champion Tigers were a great team.  It's hard to believe that anyone could strike out 17 against a lineup like that.  He was as dominating as any pitcher in one game. 

The amazing Bob Gibson died this week in 2020.  He was 84 and fighting cancer.

Over the years, Gibson won 251 games with a 2.91 ERA.  He also threw 56 shutouts!  Add 255 complete games plus winning Game 7 in 1964 versus New York and 1967 versus Boston!

In the aforementioned season of 1968, he won 22 games, pitched 28 complete games and 13 shutouts.  His ERA was a super-human 1.12!

I did not make a typing mistake.  It was indeed 1.12 over 304 innings.

Gibson added a no-hitter in 1971 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1981.

He was absolutely awesome and died shortly after Lou Brock, his teammate from those Cardinals who won three N.L. pennants in five years, passed away.  Sad month for Cardinal nation.

Never saw him in person but lots of times on TV.  As I told my late father one day, I would have Bob Gibson on the mound if my life depended on one pitch.

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1957: Braves beat Yankees in 7 games

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On this day in 1957,  the Milwaukee Braves won the first and only World Series title in Wisconsin's history.  (The Brewers lost the 1982 series to St Louis.)

The Braves were the underdogs.   They faced Casey Stengel's Yankees, or the powerhouse of the 1950's.   New York had won in 1956 and 5 titles between 1949-53.   By the way, New York and Milwaukee met again in 1958 but the Yankees won.

It was a great series for Lew Burdette, who won 3 games.   He won games 5 and 7 and pitched 3 complete games.   Burdette was named Series MVP.

Milwaukee was on top of the baseball world on this day in 1957.

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1845: Another birthday for The Naval Academy

We salute The Naval Academy today.  It opened with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.  

It became the U.S. Naval Academy in 1850 and thousands of officers have graduated, from the late Senator McCain to many others.

Happy birthday! 

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